Avni+Vyas+LMF+Analysis

//Learning Motivation and Fun//


What are your 5 generalizations?
In an LMF including a hobby 72% (56 stories) involved a medium to high level of physical activity that contributed to the learning experience being fun. Many of the activities that were described as hobbies were ballroom dancing, surfing, rope courses and others that involved many aspects of physical movement. As Casey, who learned wake surfing, and Aurora, who learned to waltz, both said in some form "there was not a lot of waiting around, or immediate practice." These activities often involved demonstration and automatic trial and error. In addition of the general sixty three LMF's that included high physical activity thirty eight were related to a hobby, sixteen to an academic setting and 9 to a career setting.
 * 1) A good dose of physical activity adds to the fun in learning a hobby.**

The implication is that learners often do not like waiting around to try out activities they are already excited about as they are often self chosen.

In 60 of 65 hobby learning activities there was a medium to high level of enthusiasm. Many of the activities that were fun and engaging hobbies had high levels of self motivation. Examples range from Dave who learned to make chocolate truffles with his girlfriend at the age of 37 to Janice who learned about nature with her father at the age of 6. Each of these learners were already excited about what they were learning before actual participation took place. Of the total 105 LMF's that had medium to high levels of enthusiasm the other 58 were tied to academic learning and 19 to career.
 * 2) A high level of enthusiasm is fun part of learning a hobby.**

The implication of this is if the learner is seeking out the learning, often that is a large part of the fun process. The key is to find a way then to have the learner want to learn the information before introducing it if possible.


 * 3) A hobby learning activity does not require a high level of competition to be considered fun.**

When learning a hobby 53 of the 71 LMF's involved a low level of competition. While working with a partner was mentioned in many of the LMF stories such as Als' and Daniels'(both about learning to dance) competition is hardly mentioned as part of the fun factor when learning a hobby. Overall 60% of the 157 LMF's that sited a level of competition were marked as low.

This may imply that the desire or self motivation involved in learning a hobby trumps the real need for a competitive aspect of the learning process in order for the learning to be engaging.


 * 4) Even within learning a hobby a medium to high challenge is part of the fun.**

A medium to high "challenge" made learning a hobby fun 85% of the time. As stated by Ciff who learned search and rescue the challenge and risk made the learning activity fun. This is also stated by Mridu who did a rope course and was challenged not just by the physical aspects, but interacting with new people and being forced to break the ice quickly. Sarah was also challenged while learning to surf due to a bad knee, but decided to do so anyway and enjoyed it.

Overall, regardless of the content type, learning with a challenge occurred in all the LMF's 85% of the time. The implication of this is that learning a hobby although often self motivated generally still requires some aspect of a challenge in order for it to be fun.


 * 5) High levels of teacher intimidation or low levels of warmth is not conductive to a fun factor in learning.**

Only 5% of the LMF's stated that the teacher in their chosen activity had a high level of intimation. The other 95% regardless of content type or any other factors stated the teacher had only a low to medium level of intimation. While it is not mentioned either way in many of the LMF's it is stated in Als'LMF that the level of humor his tango teacher had was helpful. Also 86% of the marked LMF's for "teacher warmth was also marked as medium to high.

This could imply that if the teacher is not approachable the learning may not be fun but also may not be as engaging.